My name is Heidi Coy, I’m 21 years old and am a international event rider.
I grew up surrounded by horses on my parents’ Dairy farm in the heart of Leicestershire, a career in horses felt inevitable for me. My Mother had my first pony lined up before I was even born! It wasn’t long before I was a member of the Belvoir Pony Club at the age of six, and got my first tastes of success at local riding club shows and started Eventing in 2013.
I completed my A levels in 2018 and am now doing horses as my full-time job.
I’m very lucky that my parents are the backbone to my Eventing career. With Dad being busy on the dairy farm, I’m lucky that I can have the horses on site.
My mother plays a huge role in my success and is chief lorry driver, groom, supporter and sponsor and dedicates a huge amount of her time to helping me achieve her ambitions. My mother used to event herself but has since swapped horses for a steadier ride and can often be seen zipping around at events on her electric bike!
Head Girl - Heather
Heather, 21, is fairly new to me joining the team in spring 2020. She has been a great addition to the team and will turn her hand to anything, not only great with the care of the horses but a great support to myself in helping me achieve my goals. We really would be stuck without her.
Trainers
I started training with Caroline Moore in 2013, Caroline has provided me with invaluable support and guidance every step of my journey. Her knowledge and dedication is second to none and she has been essential in helping me become the confident competitor she is today.
As my long-standing trainer, she knows each of my horses personally and knows exactly how to get the best out of each partnership.
I started training with Ian Woodhead in 2014 to help me with my dressage. I never really enjoyed the dressage phase but Ian taught me to not only enjoy it but how to get the best out of each individual horse. He has been invaluable in my journey and will continue to be a big part of my team.
I also train with Amy Woodhead who is Ian Woodhead's daughter. Amy has really helped me with test riding and lots of helpful tips to get the best out of each horse. She has been a real help and wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.
My career highlights include: 3rd Badminton Grassroots 2015, 4th Weston Park CCIJ2* and part of the winning team. I was also selected for the Junior Europeans in Fontainebleau in 2018 and won double silver medal on my horse Royal Fury who I have produced from a 4yo. We went on the next year to win an individual bronze medal at the Young Rider Europeans in Maarsbergen in 2019. I concluded 2019 by winning the Goldman Cup League and finished runner up in 2020.
I would love to compete at Bramham 4* u25 championships, I’m still in Young Riders so would love to be in contention of going to the Europeans again.
With my younger horses I aim to keep producing them up the levels to sell on.
I have 2 exciting 9yo mares, who are both extremely talented and would love to make my 5* debut on them. First is my own Halenza, who I’ve produced from a 4yo up to 4* level and then Russal Z, owned by David Ottewell, who I’ve produced from a 5yo at BE100 level to finishing 9th at the 8/9yo 4* championships.
I love watching Ros Canter and Piggy March. They make it all look very easy and can ride any sort of horse! Also an up and coming rider I love watching is Yasmin Ingham, she has a lovely string of horses and produces them so well.
Catch up with Heidi Coy via social media on Facebook and Instagram, or on her website Heidi Coy Eventing.